The Sound of Running Water
by Konoha's Kage
Summary: The year is 2085; the undead peoples have fled the angel of technology and quietly struggle to survive. An abomination has been created, and it quickly becomes the key to the next battle between the concepts of good and evil. LxLight.Vamps, zombies, etc.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Own Death Note Do Not I.

Warnings: This story is more spur-of-the-moment than a marriage in Las Vegas. That being said, it's unplanned, unpredictable, and may even be a one-shot that leaves you quite dissatisfied. If it were to continue, the unnamed character would probably be L, which would mean he is acting very very very OOC. This would also mean that the story would follow the path of an LxLight fic, which would mean this story is very much slash. Also, it's a vampire fic, which is so cliche I want to vomit, which may cause you, the reader, to vomit because that's just what happens when someone sees another person vomiting.

By the way, I have an essay due in eight hours. It just so happens that I can only come up with fiction ideas when I have to write a nonfiction essay.

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Chapter 1

The river was completely frozen. Children had spent the day gliding over it with their blades, scratching at the surface, and there were shavings of ice as evidence of it. No duck dared glide over its surface nor indulge in the fish it had to offer. The river did not shine, because the clouds had taken over the sky. If there was any trickle of running water, the ice suppressed the sound and no one would hear it.

The buildings seemed to shrink reverently away from him as he paced the city streets. Snow crunched beneath his footsteps, sharp and forceful in his irritation. The ridiculous tradition of Daylight Savings had caused the humans to stay out an extra hour after sunset, and his hunger refused to adapt to the inconvenience.

Winter, as with most beasts, was not an agreeable season for Light. The prey was much scarcer, the slush was difficult to move through, and the ice dulled his senses. Even though his mutation granted him abilities and strengths greater than the average human, they were only enough to support his demanding nutritional requirements. Since his kind was an undead type, and did not actually reproduce, they had not been able to evolve and adapt to the world since their creation eight centuries ago. Conversely, humans had developed more and more ways to destroy people like him.

Light was quite a young vampire, only about seventy or so years turned. When he had first started out with his school friends, they had looked out for each other and survived. However, as technology developed and they had already lost a few friends, they realized it was better to go their separate ways, lest the humans manage to get them all in one fell swoop.

Light didn't regret the decision. Once he was able to ward off the anxiety of wondering how his friends were faring, there was much less strain on his mind and heart.

Still, winters were very cold.

Some vampires, to avoid these weather conditions, liked to store their food up during the other seasons. The catch was that the prey had to remain alive; the blood spoiled quickly if it wasn't flowing. The best blood was when the prey was healthy, but that also meant they could scream and cry and look altogether pathetic. Light preferred not to be bothered.

And that was why he was currently trekking the dimly lit streets, protected from the bite of snow by thick pants and a large black hoodie that made him look more like the type of prey he was trying to catch rather than a vampire (although vampires didn't really have any sort of dress code, despite what the silver screens said. He had enjoyed donning the cape and formal attire to Halloween parties back when he was still a part of society, though).

But he had been searching for several hours. Tokyo must be feeling especially civil lately; he hadn't found a criminal worth killing all night – or all month, really. He was about to resign himself to another foodless day, when he heard a sound a few blocks down. It sounded a bit like sobbing. Strange, he hadn't heard any blood flowing in that area. He followed the sound to behind an apartment complex, where there was a dumpster covered in snow and two figures hunched in front of it.

The first figure he saw was that of a woman – she was dead. Well, that explained why he never smelled hers. Blood that stopped flowing didn't make sound after all. He could see it, though and now that he was closer, he could smell it. He would have smelt it if the nights were warmer, but the freezing temperatures meant his sense of smell was not much better than the average human.

Even though the death seemed recent, the blood would have already staled. However, by this time Light was rather starving, and though it might upset his stomach a bit later, it was better than nothing.

He turned his attention towards the other figure, which was that of a man. To his surprise, the man was alive. Had he lost his ability to hear blood flowing altogether? No, it was there. For some reason it was faint, but there was blood in his veins keeping him alive. This would be a better meal, Light thought, but he had best check to be safe.

"Did you kill her?" he demanded.

The man shrunk back, and Light realized belatedly that the sound of sobbing had come from him, not the woman. "I didn't… I didn't want to!"

"But you did, didn't you?"

"If she hadn't resisted… I wouldn't have…"

Light's lips curled up in disgust. How dare he try to blame it on the victim? These types of criminals were some of the lowest.

"The likes of you… don't deserve to live."

The man's head shot up to stare at him, eyes full of tears, but Light had already taken action. He grabbed his head and bent it to expose the neck, and came down on it to bite. The skin was rather tough to get through for some reason. Still, his incisors were sharp for a reason, and he penetrated, waiting for the sweet liquid to come and soothe his thirst.

Which was why he was surprised to pull back, choking. He wiped his mouth, desperately trying to get the horrid taste of spoiled blood out of his mouth. "You taste… like _death_!" Light spat.

The man only stared at him with wide eyes, one hand grasping protectively the area Light had bit. "You… tried to eat me?"

"'Tried' being the key word," Light muttered. "God, you taste disgusting. What the hell are you made of?"

"Body parts."

Light rolled his eyes. "That's funny." Reluctantly, he turned back to the murdered woman. "I suppose this'll have to do, then." He slipped his arm around her shoulders and lifted her up. He could see that she was very beautiful. It was unfortunate that he couldn't save her. Gently he brushed her blonde locks aside and lowered his head. As expected, it was cold and a little bitter. But his stomach accepted the food eagerly. He licked every last drop, since he wouldn't know when his next meal would be. When he finished he pulled away, and he hefted the body over his shoulder and began to walk away.

"What are you doing with her?"

Light looked back. "What do you care, unless you're one of those sick necrophiles? I have to burn her body, don't I? Can't have the police find a body with blood missing that wasn't bled out and two puncture marks on the neck. They'd think there was a vampire around or something."

"You're a vampire?"

"Whether I confirm that or not doesn't matter. No one would believe you." He began to walk away again.

"Wait!" the man cried. "You aren't going to kill me?"

"I only kill when I'm hungry. You would just be a waste of time and energy. Turn yourself in if you're feeling guilty."

The man laughed. "So that's it. I'm not even good enough to kill…"

The miserable words and the self-deprecating laugh made Light turn back around curiously. The man was on his knees; he was not looking at him, but at the ground. Black locks of hair covered his face but Light could see something small and glistening drop from his trembling chin. Suddenly he had the feeling that he was not facing a mere cold-blooded (excuse the pun) murderer here.

"Hey. How did she die?"

"Didn't you say so yourself? I killed her."

"But how?"

With the hand that wasn't still covering his wound, he pointed at the dumpster. "She hit her head. Struggling against me, of course." Light looked at the dumpster. Indeed, there were bits of blood from the impact which matched with the injuries on the woman's head. Usually he would have noticed it. The hunger must have distracted him.

"Why didn't you just let her go?"

"I just wanted to talk to her!" he said. "I only grabbed her hand! But she couldn't even look at me because…"

"Because?"

"Who could look at this face?" was the bitter reply, and he lifted up his head. Light realized he hadn't seen his face yet because he either had his head bent or the shadows had covered it. At that moment, the clouds cleared and moonlight drifted through to reveal the man's face to Light.

Deep-set eyes, with watery ink-black pupils stared up at him. His lips were colorless, nearly indiscernible from sickly-looking skin.

Embedded into his skin were thick black stitches, running down his neck and underneath his scalp.

_What the hell are you made of?

* * *

_KK: I should probably note that my class recently read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Yeah. I gotta go do my homework now.


	2. Chapter 2

KK: Got-deng, has it really been two months? I meant to update last week, or the week before… Really, this has been twisting and festering in my brain, growing moldy and colorful. The first chapter was a random brain fart, but that fart turned into a nuclear bomb… in short, this story will either be shit or _the _shit. :P

So, here are some warnings: I will have one or more OC. One of them is quite integral to the plot. I don't quite know if she is a Sue yet and I request your feedback concerning her. She's not appearing in this chapter though. Um, what else, what else? You will NOT like how obedient L is at first. It'll get better, but it's gonna get worse first. Oh, and we have a character death. And cannibalism. And slash. Can't forget the BL. Actually there's boyxgirl love, too. Normally that wouldn't be a warning but the Death Note fandom is screwy like that.

Sugar-sweet shout out to HaHaHarley for being first reviewer! :D Alerting and favoriting is awesome too, but I love opinions and if you have some, tips and pointers.

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Chapter 2

The orange glow from the fire tinted Light's face as he stared contemplatively at the remnants of his dinner. He could hardly believe what he had seen tonight, in that alley. But as he examined the situation further, he realized there was no other possibility.

Frankenstein monsters had been a myth, even more so than most of the undead, simply because they weren't possible. Vampires, werewolves, zombies – they all had souls, however distorted. But frankenstein monsters? Scientifically created life?

To be blunt, it was just… freaky. He couldn't believe they had done it.

There was a tapping at the door. Light did not bother to make a move towards it, because his visitor let himself in anyway.

"Oi, Light-o. Catch anything?"

Light glanced at Ryuk, then nodded towards the table.

The creature, barely able to fit through the door due to his unnatural height, grinned as he closed the door behind him. "Whoa, nice! All prepared and everything. Wow, the kids'll love me tonight!"

Light raised an eyebrow. "Of course, I did all the work."

The zombie grinned. "Aw, you'll tell them it was a joint effort, yeah?"

"I'll say nothing when they ask nothing." Obligatory small talk aside, Light decided to cut to the chase. "Has one of your children escaped recently?"

"Ah? No, don't think so. Everyone's accounted for as of an hour ago."

The vampire frowned. "In that case… tonight, I think I saw a frankenstein monster."

"A Franky? For real?"Ryuk leaned forward, his deep-set eyes bulging. "I thought those were legend!"

He gestured towards the door behind him, open by a few inches. "He's asleep. See for yourself."

Ryuk's blue mouth dropped."Wha? You brought him here?" He headed towards the door and pushed it open.

There, atop the covers of Light's bed, the creature lay. The stitches that formed harsh lines across his face were even more pronounced in the glow of Light's dim lantern. They could see where the eyes had been sown in, and where the nose had been replaced.

"I hit him on the head, and he collapsed."

"Just hit him? Aren't they supposed to be stronger than that?"

"That's what I've heard. Maybe something happened to him before I found him."

"Heh. He kind of looks like a cute little baby in this light."

Light's eyes narrowed. "He's dangerous. He's proof that the humans are going too far."

"Then why'd you bring him here?"

The vampire glowered. "And leave him wreaking havoc wherever he goes? A woman died running away from him!"

Ryuk looked back at Light. "Ah? So you didn't kill her? Here I thought you were finally seeing things my way."

Light frowned. "I told you already. You want a food supply, you let me do it my way."

"Yeah, yeah." It was a half-hearted debate. With each technological revolution, it had gotten harder for Ryuk's kind to face up to the machines humans had created. They were a slow species, where Light, a vampire, was fast. And while zombies had far fewer weaknesses than vampires, the humans' utilization of fire and electricity was enough for zombies to stay away from them if they wanted to survive. Vampires, while they could be burned and electrocuted, had a higher tolerance and were less likely to die.

But Ryuk had a whole civilization to look after, and he needed food, however scarce it was. His people could only last on animals for so long, and they relied on Light's abilities. Light, while willing to help, refused give up his principles.

Ryuk crinkled his nose. "I can smell the electricity in his veins." It was something only zombies could detect, with an odor not unlike burning paper.

Light nodded. "I wondered why I could barely hear his blood flow, until I realized that it was actually electricity keeping him alive. Look," Light said, gesturing to a patch of duct tape on the creature's neck. "I drew some of his… blood. Here." He pulled out a small glass vial from the nightstand by the bed, revealing a thick viscous liquid inside. He offered it to Ryuk.

"This ain't blood," Ryuk said. "Is it?"

"It's what's flowing through his veins." The liquid was not only pure white (which was strange enough in itself, even compared to Ryuk's green blood, and Light's, which was black) but glowing, though faintly.

"Liquid electricity," Light said. "Touch him."

Ryuk looked at Light dubiously. "With that stuff inside him? No way, I'm not getting shocked!"

Light grabbed the zombie's hand and placed it on the creature's hand. "H-hey!"Ryuk protested.

"His skin is some type of mixture of human skin and rubber. It doesn't conduct electricity. And it was difficult for me to bite."

Ryuk pulled his hand away nervously. "Well, I'll be damned," he remarked.

"I found notes in his pocket," Light said. He handed picked up a leather-bound book from the nightstand and handed it to Ryuk. "I don't expect you to understand them all, but look at the name on the inside cover."

With a long finger, Ryuk flipped the cover open. "V. Frankenstein," he read. "No way… he's a fictional character, isn't he?"

"Apparently Mrs. Shelley's novel may not have been as fictional as we thought. This notebook has to be at least four hundred years old. I think someone found Frankenstein's notes on how to create life out of corpses… I have skimmed through some of these equations and they are nothing short of genius for his time."

"Well, shouldn't be a problem for you to figure out, ne, Light-kun?"

Light shook his head. "I haven't touched science in a long time, Ryuk. It would take me at least several months to decipher all of this."

Ryuk cackled. "Where for a normal person, it would take several decades, ne, Light-o."

"I suppose so," he placed the notebook back on the nightstand. "But I'd rather not associate with this type of stuff."

Ryuk watched Light turn back to the creature. "He's starting to wake up," the vampire observed.

They both watched him intently as his breathing pattern changed and his eyelids flutter open. A bit like a human, Ryuk thought.

Light put his fingers on the creature's wrist. "Whatever's keeping him alive is pulsing at thirty beats per minute. Much slower than the average human, even for one just waking up," Light said.

"Cool," Ryuk said, uninterested. He leaned over the creature, until their faces were parallel, and peered into eyes which were deeply black – Ryuk could not tell the pupil apart from the iris. "Hiya!" he called loudly. "How you feeling, Franky?"

He leaned back to allow the creature to sit up. "Franky?" the creature repeated.

"That's what'cha are. Why, do you have a name?"

The Frankenstein monster blinked. "I was identified with the letter L," he offered.

"Cool. Hey, Light, it's Ellie!"

"I heard."

"Do you eat or drink?" Ryuk inquired.

"I can," L said. "Sugar and oil most efficiently sustains me. I assume this me you aren't planning to kill me."

"Besides the fact that I don't quite know what would kill you," Light said curtly. "I also don't know how many of your kind there are. Would you be willing to supply either of those answers?"

"I can die just like any other human," L said. "I just have a much stronger body and am immune to sickness."

"Thanks for the tips. What about my second question?"

"I am aware of seven who are still alive."

"And where can I find them?"

"Do you wish to kill them?" L asked.

"We'll see."

"I don't know where they are."

"Geez, Light. What do you got against him? We don't gotta kill him, he's not human."

Light turned around, his face revealing anger that Ryuk realized the vampire had been holding back. "He's not one of us either. He's just some concoction made by those damn idiots who can't seem to keep their noses out of anything!" he said disgustedly.

"What… the Tenshi? You think he came from them?"

"I know it. Look right below his neck. I saw it while I was putting the duct tape on him."

Ryuk turned skeptically to L. "'Scuse me, Ellie," he said. "Need to see your neck."

L obeyed, exposing his neck. Ryuk pushed him lightly forward to get a view of the back of his neck. There, just below the nape, was a small but elegant tattoo, depicting a small set of wings in red ink.

Ryuk inhaled sharply. "Well, damn. It's really them."

"They're fucking _hypocrites_," Light raged. "Saying we're the abominations, and they come out with something like _this_?"

"Hey, hey," Ryuk warned, pointing a knobby thumb towards L. "He's right _here_."

Light scowled at L, who just stared back blankly, seemingly unaffected by the whole conversation. Somehow, that made Light angrier, and he stormed out of the room.

Ryuk sighed. "That kid…" He looked at L, who stared at the place where Light had stood impassively. "Stay," Ryuk commanded, not unlike a human to his dog, before following the vampire. Light was in his kitchen, pulling a bag of human-manufactured potato chips out of the cupboard. The stuff was useless to his body, but Ryuk knew it was a comfort food for him.

"Hey, got any apples?"

Light rolled his eyes. "You know I don't. Fresh fruit wouldn't last long enough."

"One can wish. Ne, Light-o," he said casually, but just enough for it to be serious. "You're getting a little too emotional about this aren't you? The Tenshi probably don't even remember you."

"Of course they don't. Those idiots don't notice any of the lives they destroy."

"To be fair – not that the Tenshi are – but they didn't really consider you a living creature at the time."

Light bit the manufactured potato snack vigorously. "Whose side are you on, Ryuk? You do realize that if the Tenshi knew about your little colony, they'd burn it to ashes in an instant?"

"Light. I'm not. Stupid," Ryuk stated coldly, the warning in his voice enough to make Light check himself reluctantly. The zombie returned to his friendly demeanor. "But you know, Ellie's interesting, isn't he? You don't want to just get rid of him."

"Of course not," Light murmured. "I need him to lead me to his friends and make sure they aren't a threat."

"Yeah," Ryuk agreed. "But I mean, be a little more polite about it."

The brightly colored chip bag crumpled sharply under Light's grasp. "Since when have you cared about social niceties, Ryuk?" he asked suspiciously.

Ryuk shrugged with a guilty grin. "What can I say? He's cute."

Light sighed in exasperation. Ryuk was always like this, looking for new toys and other forms of entertainment. "Why don't you take him then?"

"Can't. Franky or not, he's still made up of human bodies. I'm tempted to take a bite out of him myself, even though it'd taste pretty overcooked with that blood of his. A lot of the kids like a barbecue, though. Speaking of, I should prob'ly be heading back or Rem'll skin me." He grabbed the produce off of the living room's coffee table, expertly drained and dried by Light. "Thanks, Light-o. Have fun!"

Light watched him go, then sighed. He hated it when the zombie was right, in his own, roundabout way. L was interesting, Light realized, as a longing he hadn't known he carried made itself known. He licked the oily salt off his fingers thoughtfully, then made plans to take a trip to the city later for some sugar.

.-.-.-.-.

Naomi Misora straddled a large paper bag on her hip while she reached out towards the number pad to the door and entered the code. With a soft hiss, the door opened.

She walked in, flipping on the light switch and placing the groceries on a marble kitchen table. Humming to herself, she began to restock the cupboards and refrigerator. She enjoyed spending time in this kitchen; it was so much cleaner than her own, and the appliances were state-of-the-art. She couldn't overcook a frozen TV dinner if she tried.

It really was a shame that this place had to be underground; sunlight would really do this place wonders. Of course, there was no way that the organization would allow the Experiments that were kept in here to be seen.

Naomi frowned to herself. She really didn't approve of all this – creating life where it shouldn't be created. It was hypocritical of the Tenshi to hunt the undead, while turning around and committing the same deed, albeit through more scientific means.

Granted, the Experiments were far less dangerous than the undead. They didn't feed off of human flesh or blood, and they didn't have corrupt souls – they didn't have _any _souls, actually. This meant they had no selfish desires – well, except for when they project the memories of their past bodies. But those weren't real. Whoever once owned the body parts that made up the Experiments had long passed on.

Naomi headed towards the door to the bedroom, where she knew Watari was sleeping. The man was getting weaker, but he still threw himself into his studies. Even when the Tenshi told him to stop, Watari still wasn't satisfied and tried to continue, even at the age of ninety. Naomi had gotten in several arguments with him about this, but nothing could stop him.

In the end, though, Naomi wasn't able to leave the sad old man's side, despite her moral convictions. She grabbed a newspaper, which she had special-delivered from a small publishing company that had survived the Information Revolution of the 50's (of the twenty first century), and headed to Watari's room.

"Mr. Watari, don't tell me you aren't awake yet…" She knocked lightly on the door and listened. There was no reply, but it was already seven o' clock in the morning. She tried the knob and saw that it was open. Was he inventing something? He tended to get trapped in his own thoughts whenever he had a scientific epiphany.

Pushing the door open, she peeked inside. She couldn't see Watari. She was about to turn away when her peripheral vision caught a pale, wrinkled hand on the floor from behind the desk.

"Watari!"

She rushed over to her employer, taking in with a sick stomach the man's limp body, and the pool of cold blood seeping into his gray-blue carpet. She knelt down, lifting the man's head up slightly. "Watari? Watari! God, what happened?" She pressed two fingers to his thin neck, ignoring the disturbingly low temperature there.

At the contact, Watari's eyes weakly opened. "Na… Nao…"

"Shh, save your breath!" Naomi urged. "I'll call a med—"

"Th – L…" Watari whispered. The Tenshi agent had to lean close to hear his words, relying more on the minute movement of his lips rather than his breath.

"She… she did…"

"Watari!"

"J… she'll kill…"

"Kill who?" Naomi asked, gripping him tightly, death creeping into her hands.

"Save him… Naomi… Save L…"

Without even a shudder, ancient eyes paled and life surrendered its hold.


End file.
